Reviews

Apex

It's not all good for Apex though. First, your mechanic has an uncanny similarity to the pothead from the Dell commercials. Not only does he look a lot like him, he sounds a lot like him as well. While he never says things like, "Dude, you're getting an engine upgrade!" he comes too close for comfort. Second, the built-in soundtrack is as generic as they come. While you can use your own music (provided you record it to the Xbox hard drive), I've come to expect games to ship with better soundtracks than this. The same goes for the sound effects. Yes, I can tell it's tires burning rubber or me hitting an opponent, but the sounds have a tinny, almost hollow quality to them. Finally, the game lacks a discernable personality. While it definitely has its own feel, there's nothing that really stands out or is all that memorable. Legendary racing games like Ridge Racer, F-Zero, and Wipeout have that certain something, that indefinable experience that sticks with you for a long time. Alas, Apex does not.

None of this should take away from the good found in Apex, though, as it far outweighs the bad. Although there's no support for Xbox Live, the two player split-screen action is decent, and even the single-player is very good, thanks in part to some decent AI. While I won't go as far as saying that the AI is revolutionary, I will say it's not brain dead. I witnessed a couple accidents that I had nothing to do with, which is always cool, and I was happy to discover that the AI didn't cheat to catch up after these accidents. A good arcade driver shouldn't have too much of a problem beating these opponents, but the challenge does get considerably bigger the further you progress through Dream mode.

Select the desired car type: street, evolution, or racing.

There's also a requisite arcade mode, wherein you can take part in a quick race, go against a ghost of yourself in time attack, or play head-to-head with a friend. More cars and tracks in arcade mode are unlocked as you progress through Dream mode, but there's enough unlocked at the beginning to sate those wanting a quick fix.

While it's not going to turn the arcade racing genre on its ear, Apex certainly qualifies as a sleeper hit. The gorgeous graphics combined with the terrific sense of speed (at least at higher levels) are certainly as fun to watch as they are to interact with, and the control is accurate enough to allow precise movements. The few low points in the game can certainly be forgiven when looking at it as a whole, and racing fans should be happy to know that this isn't another poor Xbox racer. Apex satisfies.